Subsea fluid couplers are commonly used in connection with subsea oil wells. Functions of the subsea well are controlled by valves and other devices which are actuated by hydraulic fluid. That fluid is delivered from the water surface through fluid supply conduits which are connected to the subsea well by means of underwater couplings. These couplings have been large and traditionally required many seals in order to provide effective fluid isolation. A need exists for a coupling with a smaller footprint than traditional couplings, that permits downhole functions to be accessible at all times and allows controlled transfer of communication between a tubing hanger running tool and a downhole completion equipment, or a workover unit, or a subsea well in production mode.
Within the oil industry, deep water completions require constant integrity checks due to possible damage to the inner wall of the well casing of the downhole hydraulic control lines due to bumping while running the completion downhole. Completion operations are lengthy and costly; therefore, a need exists for a means to discover a failure on the hydraulic control lines as soon as a failure occurs.
A need exists for a coupling, a system for use in tubing hangers, and a method for transferring fluid that meets all the above noted needs.
The present embodiments meet these needs.